80 lines
5.9 KiB
HTML
80 lines
5.9 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html>
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<html lang="en">
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<head>
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<meta charset="UTF-8">
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<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
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<link rel="stylesheet" href="/style.css">
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<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
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<title>Kanken</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1>Kanji Kentei</h1>
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<p>The <em>Kanji Kentei</em> is an exam available in Japan to test the examinee's knowledge of Chinese characters (kanji)
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as they appear in Japanese. The test comes in 12 levels, spanning from level 10 (the easiest) to level 1 (the hardest),
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with levels 2 and 1 have easier versions called pre-1 and pre-2.
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</p>
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<p>It's said that the hardest level, level 1, is also functionally the hardest credential to achieve
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among the Japanese culture's rich array of similar exams (such as on geography, cultural heritage, etc.),
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lining up with the <em>Nihongo Kentei</em> as the top of the hardest Japanese-language-testing exams.
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</p>
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<p>Evgeny Uskov, via his website <a href="https://roshiajin.jp">Roshijin.jp</a>, has been my ambassador in learning
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more about this exam through his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@EvgenyUskov">YouTube channel</a> and website expounding details of the exam in English.
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Thanks to Evgeny, it's become clear to me that I, too, wish to take up the gauntlet and achieve a pass (80% or more)
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on the hardest exam of its kind, namely level 1. At this time (15 August 2024), only 5 non-Sinosphere foreigners
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appear to have passed it, according to Evgeny's most recent information, so I aim to hopefully line up somewhere
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in the top 10 my the time I eventually finish! :)</p>
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<h2>My resources</h2>
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<p>
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Due to the illumination of people who came before me, the task of passing the exam has, in my opinion,
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been significantly lessened in ardour, because I am able to view comprehensive details about each part of the
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exam and its precise details ahead of time, as well as the fact that many resources have already been
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made widely available that weren't as accessible before.
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</p>
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<p>In keeping with this trend, I would like to also share my own offering in the Kanken resource space,
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namely a massive dataset adequate for comprehensive study of the Kanken level 1 material,
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all in one centralized location. I'm still working on this in various aspects, but for now,
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an Anki deck and a general data sheet (in CSV/spreadsheet-friendly form) are in the works.
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</p>
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<p>
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These will contain the contents of the Kanken Kanji Jiten, i.e. the (relatively) exhaustive authority on the
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Kanken level 1 (and below) exam, to whose contained kanji the exam will be constrained, in Japanese.
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Ultimately, the exam may feature some vocabulary outside the scope of the dictionary, but the large part of
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the exam should come from the contents of the dictionary. I will also, over the course of my personal studies,
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build up the English Wiktionary's coverage of the Kanken material, with the late-stage goal of
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transforming Wiktionary into an adequate resource for Kanken study, albeit allowing you to study the same
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material in English for more efficiency for us English-speakers. However, if the deck itself is to take a while
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to be produced, then the English version I prepare only after I've basically finished studying will take
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literal years. Please be patient if waiting for this one!
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</p>
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<p>I also intend to provide the following extra resources for help in Kanken study: </p>
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<ul>
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<li>A copy of the chart in the Kanken Kanji Jiten listing the kanji radicals (as used on the exam)</li>
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<li>A list of all phonetic series for helping to remember the <em>on</em> readings for the characters</li>
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<li>A list of all undecomposable characters out of the 6300, which effectively breaks down recognition and writing into a simple game of composition</li>
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<li>Along with the data and Anki deck: differentiated <em>go-on</em> and <em>kan-on</em> readings, to help learners grasp the connection between the two, as well as predictably use one or the other, e.g. to read an already-analysed Buddhist term</li>
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</ul>
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<h2>Personal study</h2>
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<p>
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As for my own course of study, I intend to work through the 42,000 vocabulary entries and 6300 kanji
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over a course of a bit less than 2 and half years, with the hope of getting a high coverage of the full
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exam material. This would equate to 50 cards a day, which, from my experience of prior study in Anki,
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would amount to several hours of study a day by a year in; however, thanks to the "FSRS" algorithm's
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recent development, which vastly improves scheduling in Anki, it may be possible to push back that
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inevitable inkstone-grinding labor a year or so, so that only towards the end will the study truly
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reach any laborious heights.
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</p>
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<p>
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Additionally, once the deck and data have been prepared, I would like to offer a website to provide
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(a) practice exams, and (b) the ability to perform online practice ad-hoc in each of the exam categories,
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and have the computer tell you if you're right, etc.
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Since the Kanken exam always follows the same format, it's possible to make this generation very
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programmatically, and this will allow one to gauge one's own progress with a quite satisfactory degree of accuracy.
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</p>
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<p>Perhaps if I'm feeling up to it, I might also consider offering a tracker to let you note which kanji you've
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learnt, and which words, etc. you now "know", or even expand the service to a live online SRS like Anki,
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but ultimately these functions would be largely unneeded given the reasonable efficiency of Anki itself.
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It can at most be a fun game if a leaderboard, etc. were to be implemented.
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</p>
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</body>
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</html> |